Artist Hidden In The Sand
by PictureMeBroken
Summary: High school AU fic. Kakashi/OC and Gaara/OC. Summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: **Aya knows it's wrong. He's a teacher and six years her elder. But she's falling fast for Kakashi Hatake. With that mysterious air, love of literature and amazing athletic skills, how could she not? Meanwhile, her best friend Yukiko finds herself head over heels for the broody red-head known as Gaara. She knows she shouldn't love him, especially with the way he treats her, but how can she resist her soulmate?

**Rating/Reasons: **Rated M for possible future chapters, foul language and some possibly graphic scenes.

**Co-write: **This story is a co-write with Chidori R. Fullbuster, who happens to be a good friend of mine.:) We'll both be posting it, though under different titles, so it can circulate to both of our readers.

**Well, my friend and I started this around April or May and we finished it around like June-ish? The first chapter anyway. But we both had other things to do over the summer, and whatnot, so we're just now posting it. ^^;**

**Okay, well, enough of my rambling, enjoy!**

"Ugh. What is Tsunade-Sama thinking? I specifically asked for regular classes this year." Yukiko sighed and shut her locker, cursing loudly as her tie got caught.

"Today is just not gonna be good for you, huh?" Aya asked, laughing as Yukiko undid her lock and pulled her tie free. Yukiko held her locker open, resting her forehead on the metal of the locker beside hers.

"Not at all. Who do you have first period?" Yukiko closed her eyes, dreading going to her AP Literature class.

"Kakashi Hatake for AP Lit. How 'bout you." Yukiko smiled.

"At least there's something good about my schedule. I have Lit with you." Yukiko jumped as someone tapped her shoulder. "Holy fu-" Yukiko stopped her string of curses when her light blue eyes locked on a pair of cold jade orbs surrounded by a messy flock of brick red hair and a plane of pale, ivory skin. Yukiko's breath caught in her throat as she stared up at him. Yukiko was always staring up to people because of her small stature, but in that moment when her eyes met his, Yukiko felt as if he were towering over here. "Er-Uh…Um. I-I'm erm…Yu-Yukiko…Uh, hi?" Yukiko had never had trouble talking to boys before, but this one was different. In the few seconds that he'd been standing there, her brain had turned to mush and taken her eloquent speech with it.

"Hehe. I'm Aya. This is my friend Yukiko. Did you need something?" Aya was smiling at Yukiko, a semi-triumphant gleam in her green eyes. The boy nodded, eyes never leaving Yukiko.

"I'm Gaara Sabaku. Where's Anko Mitarashi's room?"

"Oh! You must be the new kid. Nice to meet you. Anko-Sensei's not in her classroom today. They're actually in the lab which is right down the hall. You're going to take a left right there and the lab's the third door on your right." Aya said, motioning at the side hallway a bit down. Gaara just nodded and walked off in the direction Aya had pointed him. Yukiko let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and grabbed Aya's forearms.

"I think I just saw a god." Aya laughed at the dead serious tone in Yukiko's voice and hugged her friend.

"Aww. Somebody got a little case of puppy love? I thought you didn't date, Yuki-Chan?" Yukiko blushed and shrugged free of Aya's grasp, turning back to her locker to close it.

"I don't like him. He's just…ridiculously gorgeous…" Yukiko went to walk away and swore loudly: She'd gotten her tie stuck again.

"Our teacher's late." Yukiko said, tapping her pencil impatiently. Aya just rolled her eyes and got up to throw away her schedule since she already had all of her classes memorized. Aya managed to make it all the way to the trash can by the door before she tripped over her own feet, as usual. Aya clenched her eyes shut and waited to hit the floor.

"Whoa there," A deep voice rumbled in her ear. Aya blushed a deep scarlet as their teacher, Kakashi Hatake himself, righted her and sent her off to her seat. Aya had to steady herself on Yukiko's desk as she passed and almost tripped again. Kakashi seemed to pay her no mind as he wrote on the board.

After a few minutes, Yukiko smirked and flipped a folded up piece of paper onto Aya's desk. Aya opened it and saw a doodle of her tripping and Kakashi opening the classroom door, with Yukiko's signature scrawled on the bottom and a smiley face.

"Bitch," Aya whispered, not able to stop the smile from touching her lips.

"Alright, class." Kakashi said, standing up straight and facing them for once. "I am Kakashi Hatake and welcome to AP Literature. Now then, before any of you ask, I will not be removing the mask or the bandana. Tsunade-Sama has given me permission to wear them, and I will not tell you why I wear them, so don't ask." Kakashi leaned against the corner of his desk, silver-gray hair hanging loosely over a white and black bandana tied haphazardly across his eye. There was a black mask covering the bottom of his face from view, most likely just to make himself more mysterious, Yukiko thought. Aya just thought it was sexy as hell.

"Alright," Kakashi started, picking up a piece of chalk from beneath the board. "Before we begin, I'd like to go over some basic grammar review. Copy the sentences on the board, then go back and correct them. You have ten minutes."

For the allotted time, all that was heard was the scratching of pens and pencils against paper, creating a monotonous rhythm. When Kakashi called time, every sighed, slightly alarmed at how rusty their skills had gotten over the summer.

"Now," their teacher cast his gaze over the class, his visible eye glinting mischievously. "Pass all of your papers forward." Once he had all of the papers, he pulled one randomly out of the middle, glancing at the name. "Aya Kazuki, please come up to the board." As she stood, Kakashi cocked an eyebrow. "Please try not to trip this time."

Aya flushed pink, biting her lower lip, trying not to smile. "Yes, sensei," she answered, ignoring the snickers of her classmates. As she made her way up to the front, a hand shot out, slapping her ass. Aya whirled around, turning red with anger. "Sasuke!"

The raven haired teen smirked from his seat. "Don't act like you didn't like it." Yukiko stood up, slapping her hands down on the desk and glaring at the back of Sasuke's head.

"Hey, Uchiha, touch her again and I'll castrate you with a rusty metal spoon. Got it?" Sasuke looked as if he were about to make a snide reply but thought better of it, just returning her glare and settling back into his seat. Yukiko smiled at Aya before sitting down again and apologizing to Kakashi for the interruption.

Kakashi nodded in her direction before asking Aya to correct the sentences for the class. Aya's hand rushed across the board, easily perfecting all errors and letting the chalk fall into the holder under the board. Kakashi seemed to smile behind his mask as he patted Aya's head appreciatively.

"Thank you, Aya. Perfect. You may return to your seat now." Aya nodded, a heavy blush on the apples of her cheeks. She squeaked as she reached her desk and caught her foot in the strap of Yukiko's messenger bag, catching herself on her seat just before falling to the floor. Yukiko couldn't help but chuckle as her best friend took her seat.

Aya sat forward in her desk as Kakashi started writing on the board once more to whisper to Yukiko, a smirk on her face.

"You know, Yuki-Chan, for someone who's four-foot-eleven, you can be extremely intimidating when the need arises." Yukiko had to stop herself from laughing as Kakashi asked them to quiet down.

"So I'll see you at lunch then, Aya-Chi?" Aya nodded before hugging her friend and running off towards the track field, curly locks flying around her shoulders. Yukiko opened the door to the art room, the smell of paint and clay bringing a smile to her face. If there was one thing she'd missed over the summer it had been the art room. Old paintings and sketches clung to the walls and easels were scattered about the room along with table and drying racks by the windows. Yukiko took her seat and began to set up her easel, stopping as she noticed a mop of red hair to her right. No, it can't be… She thought, turning to meet Gaara's light green eyes. A flush climbed to her cheeks as she hastily returned her gaze to the easel in front of her. Pushing back a few of her dark locks, Yukiko quickly scanned the front board and picked up her paintbrush, imagining the hot spring resort where she and Aya had spent most of their summer break.

"Alright class. I am Kurenai Yuhi. Some of you know me from last year, some of you are just meeting me for the first time." Kurenai tossed a welcoming smile to Gaara and continued on to the rest of the class. "For those of you who have been in my class before, you already know the assignment and you may begin. For everyone else, let me say welcome to art! I like to start the year off with a simple assignment that will also let me get a feel for your individual art style. I would like you to take something from your summer, whether it be a place, person, or otherwise, and draw it on the canvas in front of you. You may paint if you would rather; all the materials are in the closet at the back of the room. Please be careful not to paint your uniform." Kurenai chuckled before telling the students to begin. She moseyed around the room, helping people here and there, giving tips, and saying how lovely everyone's summer must have been.

Yukiko had already finished her basic scene and was ready for the challenge of painting herself and Aya into the picture, by the time Kurenai got to her easel.

"Very nice, Yukiko. I see you've been practicing over the summer. Your textures are much smoother, more realistic." Kurenai grinned down at her protégée before moving on to Gaara's easel. Yukiko tried not to pay attention to them as Kurenai commented on his shading skills and instead tried to capture the light hitting Aya's green eyes. She sighed as she examined her work. Even in paint they looked odd standing next to each other. Aya was tall, tanned, and curvy with the toned muscles of a dedicated athlete and strawberry blonde curls while Yukiko was of less than average height with a petite frame and almost sickly pale skin that made her wavy red tresses look black.

Yukiko shivered as she saw the intense stare Gaara had trained on her painting. A flush climbed to her cheeks as he crossed his arms, obviously criticizing her work in his mind. After chewing the inside of her cheek for a few minutes Yukiko couldn't stand it anymore. "What do you think of it?"

Gaara looked away from the painting and up at her, then returned to his own drawing, ignoring her question entirely.

Yukiko sighed, trying in vain to fix her uniform. No matter what she did, her uniform was always slightly askew. One of her socks slid down to her ankle while the other stayed firmly at her knee; her vest already missing a button though she'd only worn it once; and her tie always too loose and getting caught in everything. She pushed her glasses up as she made her way to the cafeteria, smiling as her best friend caught sight of her and yelled.

"Come on, Yuki-Chan! Hurry up!" Yukiko smiled and jogged up to meet Aya in the line.

"Hey. Does Kakashi-Sensei still want us to have lunch with him in the courtyard?" Aya nodded.

"Yeah, he reminded me as I was leaving gym." At Yukiko's raised brow Aya simply added, "He's one of the coaches too."

"Seriously? The Lit teacher is a coach? Huh. I wouldn't have guessed it myself." Yukiko grabbed a bottle of water before scanning her ID and handing the lunch lady a check.

"Sorta. He coaches track in the afternoons, but that's it." Aya righted the bag on her shoulder before starting off towards the courtyard, Yukiko following behind and waving at old friends.

"Ne, Yuki-Chan!" Yukiko stopped and smiled at the familiar voice.

"Yes, Deidara?" The blonde boy stood up to hug her, ruffling her hair affectionately and looking down at her with sparkling blue eyes.

"You still comin' over tomorrow for a bit of late night raiding?" Yukiko rolled her eyes.

"Like I would miss it? I'm the main healer, of course I'm gonna be there." Sasori smirked and ran a hand through his light red hair.

"I told you she'd still be up for it, Deidara." Deidara glared at Sasori before taking a seat next to him and stealing his apple.

"Well, in that case, we'll all be over at my house. See you there, Yuki-Chan." Deidara gave a small wave before turning his attention back to the others sitting at the table with him. Yukiko shook her head and continued on after Aya, a small smile still affixed to her lips.

"Aya-Chi! Wait up." Yukiko pouted as she sprinted the last few feet between Aya and herself. The sun was scorching as they stepped outside. The courtyard offered very little shade, save for the few trees dotting the perimeter. Kakashi was sitting beneath one of these trees, bottle of water in one hand and a novel in the other. The girls had seen this book several times in first period when Kakashi hadn't been speaking. He closed the book and stood as the two approached.

"Hey sensei. What'd you need us for?" Yukiko said sweetly, smiling despite the fact that she hated being outdoors. Kakashi seemed to return her smile as he asked them both to sit with him.

"Alright girls, I've asked you two to join me because I'd like to talk with you about your test scores. You both have the highest scores of any of my students." Aya looked down modestly as Yukiko blushed and muttered, 'I test well.' "Because of this, you two have been chosen to receive a literary reward at the next assembly. As your teacher, I thought it right to tell you girls in advance and be the first to congratulate you two. So, good job!" Kakashi smiled again, and ruffled both girls' hair before saying they could go back to the cafeteria now if they'd like and picking up his novel.

The bell rang as they walked back in, making both of them sigh and start off towards their lockers. Yukiko quickly tucked her tie into her vest as Aya opened her lock for her. Yukiko opened her bag as the door swung open, trading out things from her first two classes. After both girls had gotten their things together they started off towards the computer lab where their science class would be for the next few days.

Aya and Yukiko took their seats in the back of the lab near the main AC vent. The two talked quietly as their computers booted up and they waited for Anko-Sensei. She appeared several minutes after the last bell, a grin on her lips, and short black hair up in its usual spiky ponytail.

"Hey there. I'm your chemistry teacher, Anko Mitarashi. I'm just gonna tell you guys now, in my class, there are a lot of explosions. That silly text-book is nothing but a bunch of boring experiments that have no place in my classroom. However, because my experiments can sometimes be dangerous, you guys'll have to be extremely careful and do exactly as I say. If you don't listen to me during an experiment, it's an automatic referral and suspension." Anko took a long look at her students before sitting back in her desk. "Alrighty then. Now that that's out of the way, I'm going to call roll, and you guys can start your assignment."

The assignment was simple enough, a short essay about yourself and what you want to do with your life. And once you finished, you were allowed to play games on the computer, listen to music, etc. Yukiko and Aya had already finished their essays and were listening to music as Yukiko doodled and Aya read fan fiction online.

"Ooooh. What's this, Yuki-Chan?" Aya said, holding up Yukiko's drawing with an evil glint in her eyes. Yukiko's face flushed scarlet as she tried to snatch the drawing away from her best friend.

"Aya-Chi! Give it back! Come on, give it!" Aya danced into the hall with the picture, laughing as Yukiko rushed to get her things and follow Aya. Aya started running down the hall and Yukiko grabbed her books and sprinted after her. "Aya!" Yukiko managed to catch her in front of their next class. She grabbed the picture and went to go into the classroom, just as Gaara was coming out. Yukiko collided with him and fell back, dropping all of her things.

"Yuki-Chan, are you alright?" Aya said, kneeling down to help Yukiko up. Gaara bent down, picking up a piece of paper and looking at Yukiko. Yukiko met his eyes, mortification and dread bubbling up inside her. Please tell me it was a different piece of paper. Please, please, please don't let it be…

"You dropped this." Gaara said coldly, handing her the drawing of him before turning around and walking back into the classroom. Yukiko felt like crying as she picked up her books and followed Aya inside. Taking extra care to place herself as far away from Gaara as possible, Yukiko and Aya ended up near the front of the classroom, two seats over from Sasuke Uchiha. Yukiko wrote a quick note to Aya as they waited for their teacher.

_Omg! You're so dead, Aya! This is all your fault! Dammit, why'd he have to pick up THAT piece of paper? T.T_

Aya laughed and scrawled a quick reply before passing the note back to her.

_Your fault for drawing him.;)_

Yukiko sighed as if from defeat.

_I hate you so much, Aya. T.T_

"Why don't you just take a picture buddy? It'll last longer." Aya growled at the sound of Sasuke's voice. Yukiko stood up turned to face him.

"Sas-" Yukiko was beyond shocked when Gaara's cold voice came from right behind her.

"I left my camera at home." Gaara had moved at some point and was now sitting in the desk directly behind Yukiko's. Sasuke glared at him.

"Smart-ass. I hate smart-asses." Sasuke stood up.

"That's your own problem. It's not my fault you're self-loathing." Yukiko and Aya laughed with the rest of the class as Sasuke seemed to boil with rage. Sasuke was normally the center of attention and no one ever said things like that to him, except for Aya and Yukiko. Of course, they were best friends with his older brother.

"Wanna settle this outside, new kid?" Gaara smirked, standing and giving Aya and Yukiko a final glance before walking over to the door.

"You're not worth my time, Uchiha." Gaara was already out the door by the time Sasuke unleashed a steady stream of curses at him. His two lap dogs, Sakura and Ino, were busy arguing over who got to chase Gaara down and tear him limb from limb when their teacher walked in. Shizune raked a very confused gaze over the classroom, which had erupted into a slight pandemonium after Gaara left. Aya and Yukiko covered their ears as Shizune's eyes narrowed. Having been office-aids last year, they knew about Shizune's temper and outbursts.

"Everyone shut up!" Shizune slammed her fists down onto her desk, glaring at Sasuke, Sakura, and Ino in particular. "You three: You seem to always start trouble whenever you're together. Sakura, I expect better from you." The pinkette looked ashamed as Shizune berated her and her friends. Ino and Sasuke just looked pissed.

The rest of the period was very quiet as the students did their assignment. Aya and Yukiko smiled at Shizune as they laid their papers down on her desk and continued on to their lockers.

"Who the hell does Sas-gay think he is anyway? I mean really, it's Gaara's first day and already Uchiha's made an ass of himself. I'm almost ashamed to say we used to be friends." Yukiko said as Aya opened their lockers. Yukiko could never remember the combination so Aya ended up having to open it for her a lot.

"Ditto. At least you didn't date him." Aya sighed as she put all of her books inside the metal cubby-hole. Yukiko cringed.

"Oh god. I still can't believe that you did. I mean really, Aya-Chi, what'd you see in him? Well, at least you got him before he became a total slut and had Ino and Sakura all over him." Yukiko emptied the contents of her messenger bag into her locker as well, leaving nothing but her sketch-pad and a few pencils.

"True." Once they'd both put away their things, and freed Yukiko's tie for the umpteenth time that day, the two made their way to the gym so Aya could change into her running gear for track.

**Chapter two might not come out for a bit, but it shouldn't be too terribly long if you like this so far.:) **

**You know the drill! Subrcribe, alert, fav, review?**

**-Amy.x3**


	2. Chapter 2

"You should join," Aya insisted, pulling her strawberry blonde waves back in a ponytail. "You don't have to run for speed in cross country. It's just stamina." She started to stretch, her faded green t-shirt riding up slightly.

"Yeah, no." Yukiko replied, shuddering at the thought. "I'd much rather spend my time playing WoW with the Akatsuki like I usually do. I'm only waiting for you to get done with practice 'cause you're my ride home." The two girls had lived in the same neighborhood since childhood, one of the reasons they were such good friends. They switched off weeks driving the other to school, that way they didn't spend all of their hard-earned money on fuel.

Aya rolled her eyes. "So why not join instead of wasting your time here?"

Before her friend could answer, they heard a familiar voice calling everyone to order. They turned to see Kakashi standing in front of the group, wearing a pair of black gym shorts and a gray Under Armor t-shirt along with his mask and bandana. "You have ten minutes to stretch," he called. "Then I'll give you directions for the route we're going to take today. Any questions?" With the silence that answered him, he turned and walked into the track shack.

Yukiko turned to look at Aya, only to notice the look of distress on her friend's face. "What's wrong?"

"I feel uncomfortable with him seeing me like this!" Aya hissed, having an inner debate on whether or not it would be too extreme to go get the pair of sweatpants from her car to wear in place of the black, barely there, shorts that exposed her toned legs.

"Oh my gosh," Yukiko gasped, comprehension alighting her features. "The last time I saw you this flustered was last year when you started wearing makeup because of your crush on Sas-gay. You have the hots for sensei!"

"I do not!" The taller of the two defended herself as she went into a split, deciding that it would be too conspicuous if she put on sweatpants. The vibrant blush coloring her cheeks and her flustered behavior as she tripped getting up from her split gave her away, however.

Her embarrassment was ignored by the arrival of a distraction in the form of a tall red-head.

Yukiko clutched at Aya's arm, her eyes going wide. "What's he doing here?" She hissed.

Aya raised an eyebrow. "Well," she said, taking in Gaara's black t-shirt, red mesh gym shorts, and black Nikes. "Seeing as he's dressed in workout clothes and he's stretching, I'll hazard a guess that he's on the team." She let her eyes linger on his muscled legs. "I wonder if he's any good." Yukiko just continued staring at the boy until Aya pushed her jaw shut with her fingertip. "You're letting flies in."

"Shut up," Yuki muttered, blushing. Aya rolled her eyes and stretched down, resting her forearms against the ground. The shorter girl's eyes remained locked on the other teen across the track. A tiny 'oh' escaped her lips, her eyes bugging slightly as Gaara tugged off his shirt, tossing on the ground next to his bags.

"Oh my dear sweet baby Jesus…" Yuki commented as she looked him over. His muscles rippled as he stretched, a slight sheen of sweat from the afternoon heat making him all the more sexy to her. For a moment she considered joining in the hopes of seeing him nak-

"Hey!"

Yukiko was pulled out of her mesmerized state by the sound of a familiar voice yelling. She turned to see a boy wearing a dark green muscle shirt and matching sweatpants that clung to his legs. His ebony hair was cut into a bowl-like shape around his head. His wide, black eyes were alright with happiness as he ran toward them.

"Hey L-," Yukiko was cut off as her cousin ran past her. He instead grabbed Aya by the waist, lifting her into the air and spinning around before setting her back on the ground.

"Lee-chan!" Aya squealed, pulling him into a hug.

Lee smiled as he returned the hug. "Hello, Ichigo-chan. How have you been?" Ever since the first time Lee had heard Aya refer to her hair as 'strawberry' blonde, he had affectionately taken up calling her 'Ichigo.'

"Hello, remember me? Your blood relative?" Yukiko raised an eyebrow as she took in his outfit. "And why on earth are you wearing neon orange leg-warmers over your sweatpants when it's still eighty-something degrees outside?" Aya just laughed and patted Yuki on the shoulder before pushing Lee towards the track shack.

"Hey, Yuki, if you change your mind, there's extra practice clothes in my bag." She winked at Yuki before running off with Lee. The shorter girl sighed and picked up Aya's bag, rummaging through its contents.

|/|/|/|/|/|

"How the hell did I get talked into this?" Yuki said, trying to pull her shorts down to a reasonable length. Since the shorts were too big, Yuki had rolled them up so they wouldn't fall off. The only problem with that was that now they showed entirely too much leg in her opinion. Not to mention that the tank top she'd found in Aya's bag was actually a mid-drift on her friend, thus showing the top of the shorts and the bottom of her stomach. Giving up she turned her attention to the track shack where Lee was clutching Kakashi's shoulders and shaking him violently. Aya was sitting on the ground laughing as Lee screamed about Gai-sensei being the track-coach and asking what had happened to him. Yuki tried to stifle her laughs as she walked up and whacked her cousin on the head.

Lee looked back at her with tears in his eyes, obviously expecting the worst possible answer from Kakashi on Gai's whereabouts.

"Yuki-chan, something horrible has happened to Gai-sensei! Otherwise he'd be here and-" He hadn't realized it, but at some point Lee had taken up the chore of shaking Kakashi senseless again. Kakashi, obviously growing tired of the game, grabbed Lee's wrist and pushed him back.

"Gai is perfectly fine, Lee. Due to an agreement we had, he's decided not to coach track anymore, thus I'm taking over for him. He's still teaching here, he's not injured, and he'll still be picking you up after practice like always." Lee wiped his eyes, relief that Gai was alright washing over him. "Now then," Kakashi continued. "Gather 'round and I'll tell you the route."

|/|/|/|/|/|

Aya snickered as Yuki tried yet again to fix her outfit. Yuki just glared at the older girl.

"I don't know why you're fussing so much, Yuki-chan, you look fine." Aya stuck out her tongue. Yuki just sighed.

"Kill me now." She shook her head. "And stop lying. I'm way too scrawny to pull this off. Not to mention too pale. I'm surprised you can look at me without being blinded by the reflective surface that is my face." Aya rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. You just keep on downing on yourself, and I'm just gonna tune you out and run next to you." Yuki laughed and punched Aya, who'd started humming loudly, in the arm.

The ran in silence until the school came back into view.

"Ne, Yuki-chan~" Aya said smirking. Yuki rolled her eyes.

"Oh god. This is gonna end badly, I know it. What, Aya-chi?"

"Wanna race to the school?" Yuki shook her head.

"You know I don't run that fast." Aya shrugged.

"Not for long distances, but you're a great sprinter. Come on, Yuki-chan." She whined playfully. "Pleeeeease?"

"Bah, fine." Aya smiled happily as they counted down and took off. Aya won of course, with Yuki close behind. Aya's curly hair was threatening to fall from the tight bun she'd managed to tuck it all into, Yuki's red-black locks also falling from their ponytail. They smiled and drank from their water bottles before turning to look at Lee, who was ecstatic at seeing his cousin actually do something physical. Gaara came up next and Yuki realized that her shorts and shirt had both ridden up during her run. Mortified she hurried to pull them both back into their proper place, catching a glimpse at Gaara's face before he ran ahead. Her face turned scarlet as she saw he'd been looking at her. If she wasn't so intelligent, she would have sworn that he'd been blushing as well.

"What's got you all flustered, Yuki?" Aya smirked knowingly. Yuki flushed a darker shade of red and focused on retying her shoe laces.

"Nothing, Aya, I don't even know what you're talking about. I'm just fine, never been better." Lee raised an eyebrow at Aya, feeling as if he'd missed something.

"Your cousin's got a crush~" Aya sang teasingly. Yuki snapped up straight, looking between the two.

"I do not have a crush on Ga-" She stopped as she realized Aya hadn't said who she had a crush on. Fuck. Double fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Aya snickered and darted off towards the changing room. Yuki trudged along behind her, dreading talking to Deidara once Aya told him she had a crush on the new kid. Opening the door to the gym Yuki almost screamed. Gaara had stepped out in front of her, effectively scaring the hell out of her. He smirked and took a step closer to her, towering over her small frame. He leaned in close enough to unsettle her.

"You're cute when you're scared." He turned on his heel and walked into the boys locker room, leaving Yuki stunned, heart racing and face beet red.

Aya was already dressed and waiting for her when Yuki managed to finish the journey from the gymnasium door. Yuki stripped down to her underwear and shook her head at Aya's raised brow.

"Be right back." She said, grabbing a towel out of Aya's bag and stepping into the shower room. She pulled her hair down and fluffed it out before removing her last articles of clothing and stepping into the cold water. She shivered and began to rinse her hair. She was about to step out when Aya decided to make her presence known.

"What happened once I left?" Yuki jumped and squeaked, glaring at Aya who was lounging on a bench on the other side of the room. They each had the same parts so neither of them particularly cared that the staff always 'forgot' to replace the shower curtains in the locker rooms.

"Nothing." Aya sighed.

"Yuki, you're my best friend, I know when something's up, now what is it?" Yuki wrapped the towel around herself and walked back into the locker room, Aya following behind. "Come on, Yuki, what is it?" Yuki smiled and pulled on her uniform skirt and a white wife-beater style tank top.

"Nothing, I just ran into Gaara and he shook me up a bit." Yuki put her face down, blushing as she thought about what he said. It might not have been much, and a bit creepy when you took the whole statement into account, but he had at least called her cute. "It was kind of embarrassing honestly..." Aya laughed and patted her friend on the back.

"Still gonna try and say you don't have a crush on him, Yuki-Chan?" Yuki rolled her eyes as she pulled up her socks and slid her feet into her uniform shoes.

"Shut up, Aya-Chi, 'fore I mention to Lee that you've got the hots for the guy that took Gai-sensei's job as track coach~" Aya's eyes widened as Yuki started to the door with her bag in hand.

"Oh you can't be serious...Yuki!" Yuki laughed and took off, Aya running behind her to her car.


End file.
